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DRIVING THE DAY: HEALTH IT POLICY COMMITTEE MEETS THIS MORNING: It’s the first Wednesday of the month, which means the eHealth world, or part of it anyway, will turn its attention to the monthly Health IT Policy Committee meeting. On the agenda, members will discuss draft recommendations from the JASON task force, which in its meeting Tuesday said vendors should set standards on interoperability while ONC convenes and helps create the framework. A separate workgroup will provide draft recommendations on health information exchange governance. The policy committee is likely to offer its feedback. CMS’s Beth Myers will also provide the latest on meaningful use attestation numbers. The agenda: http://bit.ly/W7SrsI. Morning eHealth is on the scene to cover, so stayed tuned.

Welcome to Wednesday’s Morning eHealth where we’re wondering if the DC weather Gods switched the order of August and September. It seems to have been hotter this first week of September than at any point in August. If you’re sick of your guest hosts David and Arthur, Ashley is back in the driver’s seat tomorrow. Don’t hesitate to hit us up at dpittman@politico.com, aallen@politico.com and agold@politico.com. As always, we welcome tips, compliments, complaints and general feedback.

MODERN MEDICAL RESEARCH HITS ETHICAL ROADBLOCK: As comparative effectiveness research becomes all the rage and the ACA adds $100 million to the effort through PCORI, policymakers and researchers are still grappling with one big hurdle: “Are patients going to be told they are part of studies? And if so, how — and what, exactly — will they be told?” In these comparative effectiveness studies, risks are usually small, or similar for different groups of patients, but still, no one wants to expose patients to trials without their consent. The issue has bioethicists, scientists and health care officials debating about how to bring informed consent into the 21st century, as eHealth’s Arthur Allen reports. Pros get the story here: http://politico.pro/1lGHMSh.

WILL OTHERS FOLLOW APPLE AND FITBIT’S LEAD?: Pressure is growing on health and fitness app makers to follow the lead of Apple and Fitbit by announcing they won’t sell consumer information to advertisers and data brokers, some experts say. But it’s not clear the two companies have sparked a revolution against health data-sharing. The selling of consumer information by the booming mHealth industry is largely unregulated because the practice falls outside of HIPAA. Instead, the leeway for companies’ behavior is largely set by consumer attitudes. But some app developers rely on the income from selling consumer info to data brokers and advertisers, leaving some to wonder if Apple and Fitbit are trendsetters or lost leaders on data protection. eHealth’s David Pittman has the story: http://politico.pro/W7Ogx6.

MINI-SCOOP: REGISTRIES IMPORTANT FOR DEVICE SAFETY: The Pew Charitable Trusts is out with a report this morning that highlights the value of data registries in improving medical device safety and effectiveness. The report, written with the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and Weill Cornell Medical College’s MDEpiNet institute, states that such registries could fill an important gap in information that FDA and other agencies need to determine the long-term impact of devices. The need for such databases was highlighted by problems with metal hip implants and other device failures in recent years. The report outlines five objectives that would allow medical device registries to better contribute to the national surveillance system, including establishing criteria for determining whether a device registry is the appropriate tool for post-market surveillance. Find the report here: http://bit.ly/1pFAbUS.

REACTION TO MEDICARE BILLING CHANGES ROLLS IN: Health IT groups like HIMSS and CHIME told CMS Tuesday they had concerns with proposed changes to the electronic submission of clinical quality measures. The concerns were expressed in comments on the 2015 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule which were due Tuesday. A group of nine tech companies submitted their own letter regarding Medicare’s new chronic care management code. Basically, they want more specifics on who is eligible for billing code and assurances providers will get paid. Read the letter here: http://politico.pro/1ts2nvZ. Doctors groups like the American College of Physicians took exception to the proposal to use 2014 certified EHRs, saying they limit many of the objectives the codes call for, such as the creation of patient care plans (http://bit.ly/1ts3wDW). Others including the American Telemedicine Association and American Hospital Association applauded the creation of seven new codes for telemedicine. Check back for more coverage of comments later.

WHAT DOES THE DoD WANT IN ITS NEW EHR SYSTEM?: Government Health IT tries to answer that question with 10 bulleted items. They include interoperability with the VA, 24/7 global access to patient records, strong security and privacy controls, and open access API. Read the full list here: http://bit.ly/1nwwHyA.

FORMER ORACLE EXEC JOINS CALIFORNIA HIE: Cal INDEX, the giant state-wide health information exchange project announced last month by Blue Shield of California and Anthem Blue Cross, tapped David Watson as its chief executive effective immediately. Watson was most recently global vice president of Healthcare Product Strategy for Oracle. Before that, he was chief technology officer and chief operations officer at MedeAnalytics. When Cal INDEX goes live later this year, it will exchange the health information of 9 million California residents. Read the press release here: http://bit.ly/1BahnzO. Check out Waton’s first CEO blog post here: http://bit.ly/1trDPU5.

THE ‘UBERIZATION’ OF MEDICINE IS COMING: At least that’s the belief of Bob Doherty, senior vice president of governmental affairs and public policy at the American College of Physicians. He points to the growing world of telephone-based physician consults like Doctors on Demand, American Well, Teladoc and many others. These companies are part of the new wave of telemedicine services. “If there are physicians willing to sign up for them, and patients willing to get their care from them, then these services will likely grow, and maybe begin to displace some traditional brick-and-mortal physician practices,” Doherty writes. While he states he’s not a clinician, Doherty questions his blog’s readers, many of whom are doctors, about the quality of care these services offer, noting the potential ease with which patients can receive antibiotics. Read Doherty’s full entry here: http://bit.ly/1vKtRxS.

ICYMI TUESDAY: The National Council of State Boards of Nursing have backed recent legislation from Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) which lifts the barriers on what telemedicine services Medicare will pay for in three phases over four years. The only problem is that the bill doesn’t address national licensure, which the nursing group wants. Read their release here: http://bit.ly/1BaztSd.

--Health IT Now called on ONC to use the additional time afforded by Friday’s rule modifying the meaningful use program to ensure health IT systems are truly interoperable. “We remain concerned that multiple timing changes and delays put off interoperability between doctors and hospitals, which ultimately harms patients,” said Joel White, executive director of Health IT Now. Read their statement here: http://bit.ly/1nUPC6a.